A man with the same spine condition as Richard III has recreated his cavalry
charge at Bosworth to prove he may have been a formidable warrior

For centuries, he has been known as the hunchback king — popularly demonised as weak and deformed.

But experts claim they can now prove that Richard III may have been a formidable warrior.

Dominic Smee, a 27-year-old unemployed teacher from Tamworth, Staffordshire, has the same rare form of adolescent-onset scoliosis that Richard III was thought to have had, resulting in spinal curvature of 75 degrees to the right and an S-shaped curvature of the ribs.

Mr Smee has taken part in a series of challenges with experts, including a cavalry charge, to assess what the king might have been capable of when he went into battle with Henry VII in 1485.

The results, to be shown on a Channel 4 documentary tonight, suggest that Richard III’s scoliosis need not have prevented him from fulfilling his role as a warrior.

It brings an end to the myth, propagated by the Tudors, that Richard III was, as John Rous, the 15th-century cleric and scholar, described “slight in body and weak in strength”, say experts.

“With my scoliosis, you might think I was a bit stooped but you wouldn’t really see there was a problem unless I was undressed,” said Mr Smee. “With Richard III, it’s looking like the same story. Far from being a hunchback, he’d have looked pretty normal in a suit of armour. He’d just have had to have armour specially made.”

The documentary follows the discovery by archaeologists of Richard III’s remains in a car park in Leicester two years ago.

While the remains proved that the king had a deformity, they also raised questions about his ability as a fighter.

At the Battle of Bosworth, Richard III was said to have led a cavalry charge against Henry Tudor, the future king.

To establish whether Richard III could have fought in battle, Mr Smee took part in a series of tests and experiments, including being fitted for a bespoke 30kg, £25,000 suit of armour.

He also learnt to ride and, in the documentary, is seen recreating the king’s cavalry charge at Bosworth.

Mr Smee found that rather than hindering him, the armour provided support, strengthening his upper body.

The medieval saddle, with its rigid construction and stiff back, provided additional support.

Having previously given up on sporting activities in his teens, finding them “degrading and demoralising”, Mr Smee said the cavalry charge was “exhilarating”.

Mr Smee contacted the experts following the discovery of Richard III’s remains and after he noticed the similarities in their spinal curvature. Dr Tobias Capwell, an expert in medieval armour who worked on the programme, said it was rare to find an adult with the same scoliosis as Richard III as the majority have surgery as a child to correct it. Mr Smee chose not to because other health conditions increased the risk of surgery.

Separately, experts from the British Geological Survey, in association with researchers at the University of Leicester, found that in his final years the king enjoyed an expensive, high-protein diet including swan, crane and heron as well a bottle of wine a day.

Richard III, the last English king to die in battle, is due to be buried in Leicester Cathedral next March following a legal battle over where he should be laid to rest.